"Many of the teacher education students with whom we've worked believe that teachers motivate students by making
learning fun. In fact, they frequently mention the ability to design activities that are enjoyable and entertaining as one of the defining characteristics of the 'good teacher'" (Weinstein et.al., 224). Flip Cameras and Videos
Some students have difficulty expressing their thoughts in traditional papers. Other students get marked down for lack of creativity on projects. In either situation, students can become quickly discouraged and lack motivation when they cannot find an outlet to express their ideas in traditional education settings. But what if students received the opportunity to feel like actors, film makers, and film editors? What if students’ mastery of content and originality could be evaluated in a video? With Flip cameras and multiple video casting sites, video presentations are becoming the new trend in the classroom between students and teachers. Flip cameras can be fairly inexpensive starting at fifty dollars up to three hundred dollars and all casting and viewing sites are free. When students’ whole selves are represented in a project, they become more excited and willing to learn the content. Similarly, students are motivated to learn the material they are presenting because they know that millions of people could view their video and first impressions, yes even on video, mean everything. See how these students and teachers got excited and motivated presenting information.
Blogs
Notebooks and poster board are a thing of the past. Blogs are slowly taking over classrooms at a rapid pace for displaying students work and projects. A blog is an information or discussion page consisting of posts or entries. Once only for individuals, blogs have become in the recent years for multiple authors (which is great for schools!) and can be about a particular subject or anything on the authors mind. Blogs may be interactive by allowing readers to leave comments or with embedded media much like the ones you have seen featured on this wiki. They can consist of mostly text but in some cases are only made up of graphics, videos, podcasts, photos, or music. In educational settings, blogs are referred to as Edublogs and they combine texts, images, videos, and links to other blogs and websites by colleagues or students. Blogging is very motivating to students because they know their work is accessible to the world as blogs are made on the World Wide Web. Students begin to take pride into what they create as they can share it with parents, neighbors, and friends, near and far, through their individual or classroom blog.
Flip Cameras and Videos
Some students have difficulty expressing their thoughts in traditional papers. Other students get marked down for lack of creativity on projects. In either situation, students can become quickly discouraged and lack motivation when they cannot find an outlet to express their ideas in traditional education settings. But what if students received the opportunity to feel like actors, film makers, and film editors? What if students’ mastery of content and originality could be evaluated in a video? With Flip cameras and multiple video casting sites, video presentations are becoming the new trend in the classroom between students and teachers. Flip cameras can be fairly inexpensive starting at fifty dollars up to three hundred dollars and all casting and viewing sites are free. When students’ whole selves are represented in a project, they become more excited and willing to learn the content. Similarly, students are motivated to learn the material they are presenting because they know that millions of people could view their video and first impressions, yes even on video, mean everything. See how these students and teachers got excited and motivated presenting information.
Blogs
Notebooks and poster board are a thing of the past. Blogs are slowly taking over classrooms at a rapid pace for displaying students work and projects. A blog is an information or discussion page consisting of posts or entries. Once only for individuals, blogs have become in the recent years for multiple authors (which is great for schools!) and can be about a particular subject or anything on the authors mind. Blogs may be interactive by allowing readers to leave comments or with embedded media much like the ones you have seen featured on this wiki. They can consist of mostly text but in some cases are only made up of graphics, videos, podcasts, photos, or music. In educational settings, blogs are referred to as Edublogs and they combine texts, images, videos, and links to other blogs and websites by colleagues or students. Blogging is very motivating to students because they know their work is accessible to the world as blogs are made on the World Wide Web. Students begin to take pride into what they create as they can share it with parents, neighbors, and friends, near and far, through their individual or classroom blog.
Popular blog services:
Wordpress
edublogs
the edublogger
blogger
Blogs we love:
http://edublogawards.com/2010awards/best-class-edublog-2010/
http://oedb.org/library/features/top-100-education-blogs/
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/top-20-teacher-blogs
Students' research on enhanced student motivation by technology
Group Research Paper